Ferris State Women's Hoops Puts Up Valiant Fight Against #13 Ashland

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's basketball team put up a valiant effort against nationally 13th-ranked Ashland on Saturday (Dec. 5) in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) action before falling 64-44 at the Big Rapids High School gymnasium.

The Bulldogs, who had only eight players in uniform for the second-straight game, fought the Eagles close in the opening half and trailed 35-23 at halftime.

However, in the third quarter, FSU outscored the Eagles 13-9 and cut the margin down to a single point at 35-34 on a bucket from sophomore Rachel McInerney with 4:45 to play in the frame. FSU trailed by only two a 38-36 with 1:141 left in the period before the Eagles closed the quarter with a pair of three-point baskets in the final 90 seconds from McKenzie Miller to push the AU lead to 44-36 heading into the final quarter.

In the final quarter, though, the Eagles scored 20 of the 28 points to stay unbeaten on the year.

The loss spoiled an outstanding performance by McInerney on the FSU side. She tallied a personal career-high 27 points and pulled down 12 rebounds with four blocked shots in the setback. A total of 20 of her 27 points came in the opening half of action and she played 39 minutes in the game.

Freshman forward Abby Nakfoor also played 39 minutes for the Bulldogs and scored 12 points with seven rebounds and six assists to help the FSU cause. Together, the frontline combination of Nakfoor and McInerney accounted for 39 of FSU's 44 points in the game.

Ashland had three players reach double-digit scoring on the day with Miller netting 15, all of which came from three-point range. Laina Snyder added 14 points and Andi Daugherty scored 11 for the Eagles while Suzy Wollenhaupt added nine off the bench.

The Bulldogs shot 38.6% for the game and hit only one-of-nine (11.1%) three's along with nine-of-11 (81.8%) free throws. Meanwhile, FSU did outrebound the Eagles 37-24 oveerall, including 12 offensive caroms in the game.

The Eagles shot 44.3% overall and connected on six-of-14 (42.9%) three's along with four-of-five (80%) free throws. AU finished with 13 turnovers and forced 28 on the Bulldog side in addition to coming up with 15 steals and 18 assists. FSU had 13 assists and seven steals with five blocked shots.

Six of the eight Bulldog players who saw action played 24 minutes or more as FSU essentially played a six-player rotation most of the day.

Ferris State will be back in action on the road next week as FSU visits Ohio Dominican on Friday, Dec. 11, for a 6 p.m. (ET) league tilt in Columbus, Ohio. The Bulldogs then head to Tiffin on Sunday, Dec. 13, to face the Dragons at 1 p.m. (ET).